PRO 23-03-2012_Layout 1 3/22/2012 11:49 PM Page 1
Bears arrive late again to take index down 19pts Page 03
profit.com.pk
BELiEvE iT or noT
Friday, 23 March, 2012
QuiCk EdiT
Dr Asim makes a bold promise russia again g
Petroleum Minister announces 5 days a week gas supply to industry g indian Lng offer to be considered after publishing negative list LAHORE
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STAFF REPORT
ederal Minister for Petroleum dr asim Hussain announced on Thursday five days a week gas supply to industry in Punjab from March 26 onwards. He was speaking to members of all Pakistan Textile Mills association (aPMTa) through telephone, hoping for 24/7 gas supply in case more gas enters the system ahead. according to him, some 225MMCFd gas has already been inducted to the system, providing the room for five days a week gas supply to industry in Punjab from Monday onwards. However, he added in the same breath that the number new domestic connec-
tions was high in recent past therefore the system would have to experience heavy load in coming months. Gohar ejaz, Group leader aPTMa, along with Chairman aPTMa Punjab ahsan Bashir thanked the Federal Minister for his kind considerations to the problems of textile industry in Punjab, saying 31% of production capacity was idle since last many months. He expressed the hope that textile industry would also be able to respond the government in the same coin by increasing exports in the months to come. dr asim Hussain appreciated Gohar ejaz for his input as head of PM Task Force on energy and said he has played magnificent role. also, he said, industry in Punjab has paid heavy price of gas shortage. He paid tributes to aPTMa members for well behaving
throughout the crisis. He said the government was moving on right the path and the ministry would ensure uninterrupted gas supply to textile industry in case no untoward incident takes place. about gas import from Iran, he said, a lawyer of international law is being looked for by the industry to contest the case of exemption from UN sanctions. We are looking for international lawyer, as gas import from Iran is very much on the cards, he added. On Indian offer for utilization of lNG terminal use, he said the option would be looked into once the negative list is published by the ministry concerned. When asked about any further increase in gas prices, the minister said it is the domain of OGra and not the Ministry of Petroleum.
EnErgy Crisis
The government doesn’t give a duck! g
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Former Poultry Association chairman gives his two pence, and more, on the energy predicament Believes politicisation of economic policies one of the major causes of shortfall LAHORE STAFF REPORT
He Former Chairman of Pakistan Poultry association and former Senior Vice President of the lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry abdul Basit Thursday urged the government to immediately convene an all Parties Conference to prepare a 20-year Charter for revival of economy. In a press statement issued here, abdul Basit said that the very objective of the Charter for the revival of economy should be keeping the economic policies independent of political force in the country. as, he said, it had been observed that since the very inception of Pakistan, we had seen many governments coming and going and almost every government came up with
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its own economic vision but as soon as the new government assumed the office, working on a new economic agenda was started. and due to inconsistency in economic policies, today the country is facing multiple internal and external challenges. Continuity of the economic development therefore suffered. There used to be a five year plan and now we have annual development programme. This shows that we are living just on day-to-day basis. There is no long term policy. He said that Pakistan was a land of opportunities. It has no dearth of talent. More than half of its population is below the age of 25. Its available workforce is around 85 million. It has all the four weather season with huge tracts of fertile land. Coal reserves among top five in the world the worth of these reserves in international market goes into trillions of dollars. The copper reserves declared by the state amount to more than a trillion dollars in international markets. Gold and precious stones available in the region has tremendous potential amounting to 700 billion dollars. Its dairy sector production is fifth in the world ranking. Its tourism sector has a huge potential under explored due to law and order situation. He said that almost all the areas of economy including agriculture sector should be discussed in detail at the
aPC. It is suggested that the agriculture sector must now be upgraded into process and semi-process industry. The value addition for our agricultural produce should go beyond the dependence on cotton textile. Cooked and semi-cooked food should become the main engine of growth. The issue of governance for providing security to the economic zones must run high on the agenda of the state. Our potential for strategic location has been undermined by disturbances in Balochistan and border areas of Khyber PK. It has badly affected Gawadar’s potential to serve as the trade gateway from Central asia to aSeaN and South african territory. The state must avoid all foreign influences on running its economic and political policies. Only then will we be able to enforce this agenda of growth. abdul Basit said that Pakistani could be workshop of the world provided its workforce properly trained. He said that Pakistani could get rid of IMF and World Bank by building water reservoirs including Bhasha and Kalabagh dams. He said that $ 3 billion could be saved only through the completion of Kalabagh dam and up to 40% of oil import bill could be curtailed if this project is given go ahead by building political consensus. He also stressed to increase productivity in the country.
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Here’S been an interesting, sudden connect between Islamabad and Moscow of late, a development we have noted with considerable interest. and now that russia has offered to fill the vacuum left by Beijing’s pullout from the IranPakistan pipeline deal, there are signs that a reorientation of South asian politics is in the offing, one that will have far reaching consequences, far beyond the region. For one thing, Moscow’s entry into the complicated situation comes on the heels of the Kremlin’s defiance of US policy on the Syrian issue, not to mention Pakistan’s no on the pipeline problem. There is also the matter of Moscow finding favour with the most crucial player in the afghan endgame, especially as US forces exit the theatre of war. From Pakistan’s point of view, the equation is fairly straight forward. Having bled men, material and finances in the long years of the terror-war, a problem compounded by unchecked corruption in the highest offices of government, Islamabad needs friends willing to help with its chronic energy problem, not arrangements requiring compromising on its most pressing needs. It bears noting, though, that Gazprom’s reach is seldom without political repercussions, something Islamabad will need to be careful about. and without disputing questionable traits of Putin’s long years of influence, it is true that his andropovian policy of leveraging russia’s energy to do business-politics with europe and her allies is at the centre of Moscow’s ascent. Should sane heads prevail, both russia and Iran can offer tremendous help to Pakistan’s energy infrastructure. In return they will want to exploit our most significant endowment – our strategic placement in the nerve centre of 21st century’s most crucial political crossroads. How we repay will be important. and how much we indulge Tehran and Moscow, along with subsequent US reaction, should be calculated in detail.
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Friday, 23 March, 2012
news
CheCk your eleCtriCity bills
Hang on, who’s controlling these meters? Masses being billed via uncertified electricity reading meters g PsQCA lacks facility to test millions of meters g Meters touted as being faulty, too fast g
KARACHI
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GHULAM ABBAS
He millions of people who pay billions of rupees monthly to government and power companies are being billed through uncertified electricity reading meters. despite being enlisted in the compulsory items to be certified by Pakistan Standard and Quality Control authority (PSQCa), the millions of power reading meters installed across the country are uncertified as the authority is yet to have the facility to test the electronic device, sources told Pakistan Today. according to sources, though many other electronic items are already being tested and certified by the authority the meters are yet to be certified despite of being the compulsory item since 2007. despite the huge complains about fast and faulty meters registered by the crisis hit consumers across the country, the government was not paying heed to the problem while allowing the power generating/supplying companies/institutions to install uncertified meters. Though the local manufacturers of the electric device claim producing the qualitative and standardized products in the country there was no check on the part of the government through the concerned authority. Besides WaPda/PePCO, Gencos and private electricity generating/supplying companies were depending their own tests
and fixed standards while purchasing the devices from manufactures. On the other hand thousands of consumers who are mostly skeptical about the standard of these meters alleging that they were fast and faulty, have not third institution/authority to test the devices but rely on the reports and test made by the power generating/supplying companies. The consumers, who are mainly unaware of the technical complexities of the devices, were not being satisfied by the power suppliers who were charging huge tariffs against the consumed unites shown by these meters. Interestingly, the consumers who are facing the cases like power theft and meter tempering cases made by the electricity suppliers have also no options like third party testing authority or others options to test the device but to go to courts and private laborites to see whether the device was faulty/tempered/fast and bearing other technical faults. The official sources at PSQCa confirmed that the electricity meters were already notified by the government in 2007 as compulsory items but it was yet to be certified by the authority as it lacks the required equipments and laborites. However, the authority has so far completed the PC-1 for the facility while arrangements were being made to purchase the required equipments to test the meters installed in the country. The authority, they claimed, was already certifying many electronic items including bulbs, tube lights, energy savers, wires and others.
according to experts, though the check and testing system of the meters were not so complexes, a government body/ authority was needed to certify and approve the standard of the devices which are major concerns for the millions of poor consumers across the country. To check if the meter was working normally and the customer is billed as per 1Kw/h, experts said, a customer can test the meter through running it for an hour with the consumption of a bulb of 1000 watts. “If the meter shows change of a unit, during the one hour’s period the accuracy of the device and its reading is confirmed,” they said adding that for the self testing of the meter, the noting of the meter’s reading before and after the one hour’s experiment is needed. To confirm whether the meter was tempered, they said, it was also necessary to assure the customer, if the glass of the meter was forced broken or a hole was made to slow down the speed of the meter. The standards and quality of electricity meters, beside other technical qualifications, were needed to have friction free rotation with minimum of filt error, stability of calibration throughout entire meter service life, improved dielectric strength and low watt losses, over load performance of the meter, satisfactory performance for years and years at light loads and others. a minor technical fault in the meters could cause billions of rupees losses to both consumers and the power suppliers, experts added.
CCOP approves sale of 2.5pc PPL shares ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
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He Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCOP) on Thursday approved the secondary public offering (SPO) of 2.5 percent of the government shareholding in the Pakistan Petroleum limited (PPl) and constituted a committee to determine the strike price for the off loading of the shares. The meeting was chaired by the Finance Minister dr. abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The committee agreed in principle to approve the summary moved
by the Privatization Commission, for the transaction structure and pricing for the entity’s SPO. The summary has authorized Finance Minister to ratify the strike price determined through book building process or resolve to meet urgently to decide on the strike price. after much deliberation on the strike price and proposed transaction structure, the chairman decided to constitute a subcommittee under Minister for Water and Power, including Minister for Petroleum Secretary Privatization and Chairman SeCP, to fine tune the trans-
action structure, strike price and other aspects of the proposal and they will submit their recommendations. In the summary, the Privatization Commission proposed to CCOP for sale of 2.5 percent of the government shareholding of PPl through the transaction structure which envisages 50 percent of the government share to be offered to institutions and high net worth individuals through book building, while 25 percent of shares to be offered to foreign investors through preferential allocation and the remaining 25 percent shares to the public through subscription.
LCCI ups the ante on research, signs MOU with IST LAHORE STAFF REPORT
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He lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (lCCI) Thursday inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Institute of Space & Technology (IST) enabling all the lCCI members to initiate joint research projects with IST to address r&d related issues. The lCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh inked the MoU on behalf of the lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry while the Institute of Space & Technology was represented by its Vice Chancellor engineer Imran rehman. as per the MoU, the lCCI will encourage its members to initiate joint research projects with faculty and researches of Institute of Space and Technology. The MoU will help strengthen the relations between the lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Institute of Space & Technology. The lCCI members may seek the expertise and the consultancy of IST faculty and researchers in product and process design and development. The lCCI members can also utilize the lab testing facilities on actual cost basis. lCCI and IST will also jointly develop need-based Professional development short courses on subsidized rates for lCCI members to keep them abreast of latest and upcoming technologies, management tools
and techniques. Venue of these courses may be at IST Islamabad or lCCI. lCCI members may also avail the short term professional development courses being offered by IST regularly as per training calendar. lCCI will help IST in implementation of its entrepreneurship development Program by nominating successful entrepreneurs to interact with IST’s students and staff on monthly basis. The lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry will provide technical assistance to IST in establishment of Business Incubation Centre at IST. lCCI will help IST in placement of IST’s students on internship in various member industries. lCCI will help to prepare a list of projects to address any industrial issue, pertaining to academic and research expertise available at IST, being/to be faced by lCCI member industries that can be assigned to IST’s students as final year project. a joint review Board having equal representation (maximum 2 from each side) from lCCI and IST will decide the allocation of final year projects to IST’s students. lCCI and IST may nominate representative on the Governing and advisory Committees of each organization on reciprocal basis. Speaking at the MoU signing ceremony, the lCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh that the lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry believes in strengthening of IndustryUniversity linkage to turn the country economically strong.
All eyes on presidential order KARACHI STAFF REPORT
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N WoW basis, the market also witnessed slight decline this week following flat performance of last week. However, this time around, market volumes also remained on the lower side. KSe100 index was down only 24pts (0.18%) WoW to close at 13,273pts. “The week started with a huge decline of 219pts in its first trading session owing to profit-taking witnessed from the local participants taking the market to recent lows of 13,077pts,” said Mazhar a. Sabir, an analyst at InvestcCap. However, on the following day, the market recovered pulling back 225pts on the back of foreign and local interest mainly in e&P, cement, fertilizer and the Banking sectors stocks. However, in the last two trading sessions, the market remained dull and hovered in the range of 13,200pts and 13,300pts level. On the economic facade, country’s current account deficit ballooned to USd2.95bn in 8MFY12. However, on the other hand, WB approved funds of USd1.09bn for energy and irrigation systems, which would create fresh liquidity in the system. On the political front, the verdict on the PMrelated issue continued to be held during
the week, which kept investors on the sideline. as a result, average traded value during the week stood at USd75.1mn (down 4.4%WoW), while average traded volumes were at 249mn shares (down 38% WoW). On the other hand, foreign inflows to equities continued to be in green and stood at USd2.9mn against ~USd1.6mn recorded last week, showing foreign interest in Pak equities. Market’s open interest position during the week declined by PKr226mn (down 9.8% WoW) to stand at PKr2.1bn. Futures volumes followed the same path as they also massively declined by 11.2% WoW to 11.7mn shares. However, futures spreads went up by 1,074bps WoW to 23.27%. The top-5 scrips at the futures counter holding 67% of the total open interest were eNGrO, FFC, dGKC , POl and OGdC. “We expect coming week to be the crucial one for the market as developments on the much-awaited Presidential Order will be eagerly eyed, which is deemed vital for sustained market activity,” said Sabir. any positive development in this regard would act as a trigger for the market, he added. However, any delay on the same would render serious impacts on equities’ values as well as volumes and liquidity, he warned.
Punjab CM vows to open proverbial water taps state of the art facilities for cows and buffaloes g
Wants balanced water supply via irrigation g vies to modernise canal network LAHORE STAFF REPORT
UNjaB Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has directed that solid planning be made for a balanced supply of water for irrigation purposes for achieving agri targets. He said that Punjab government is modernizing canal system through organized and meaningful reforms as the goal of agri selfsufficiency cannot be achieved without improving and harmonizing irrigation system with the changing requirements. He said that in addition to modernizing the 37000-km long canal network, participation of farming community in the management of canals and water channels has been ensured. He said that Punjab province is considered as the food basket of Pakistan and comprehensive measures are being taken for maintaining this identity of the province and uplift of agri sector. He was presiding over a meeting regarding availability of canal water for agri purposes in the province, here today. Provincial Minister for Irrigation Malik
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ahmad ali aulakh, Secretary agriculture, Consultant Irrigation department M.H. Siddiqui, director Met Office and officers concerned were present. The meeting considered in depth the supply situation of canal water for rabi season 2011-12. addressing the meeting, the Chief Minister said that Punjab government is taking revolutionary measures for the uplift of agri sector and a huge sum of rs. 19.15 billion is being spent on various projects of agri development including irrigation of more than one lakh acre agri land through drip irrigation, reformation of seven thousand water channels and provision of laser land units to cultivators. He said that these projects will help modernize agri sector. He said that Punjab is an agrarian province and achievement of agri targets is not possible without availability of water. He said that construction of water reservoirs is essential for meeting agri needs. He said that small dams are also being constructed in Barani areas for this purpose. He expressed the hope that small farmers who have obtained tractors under Green Tractor Scheme will pay special attention to increasing per acre yield.
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Livestock, dairy development Chairman talks up his efforts LAHORE STAFF REPORT
rOVINCIal Minister for livestock and dairy development, Malik ahmad ali aulakh has said that for the development of Sahiwal Cow, Nili ravi buffalo and other breeds, a state-of-the-art semen production unit is under-construction at Khizar abad which will produce one million semen doses annually. This was stated by him while presiding over a meeting of Punjab livestock and dairy development Board (PlddB), here today. Chief executive Punjab livestock and dairy development Board Maj. General (r) Muhammad ali Khan and other officers were also present on this occasion. Provincial Minister said that Punjab government is giving special attention of livestock sector so that production of meat and milk could be increased. He told that Punjab government has allocated 2500 million rupees for the
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development of livestock under annual development Programme. Maj. Gen. (r) Muhammad ali Khan, CeO PlddB informed that 100 men as artificial Insemination assistant and 105 women as livestock extension Worker from districts Muzaffargarh, layyah, rajanpur and dera Ghazi Khan have been trained by PlddB and are working in the field in their respective areas. In the second phase, 200 men and women belonging to districts Sialkot, Mianwali, Bhakkar and Narowal are being trained. He said that work is speedily in progress in silage making project. He said arrival of machinery is expected by the last week of april and soon silage will be available to the farmers at economical rate. Malik ahmed ali aulakh said Punjab government is taking special interest in the development of livestock sector and strengthening of economy through the development of this sector is among its top priorities. He said, project of PlddB will play an important role in the development of livestock sector. He appreciated the activities of the Board.
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Friday, 23 March, 2012
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news
Bears arrive late again to take index down 19pts
Major Gainers Company Wyeth Pak Ltd.XD Service IndXD Millat TractorsXD EFU General Ins EFU Life Assur Pak Suzuki Motor
Open 718.20 182.97 489.81 78.97 78.53 60.54
High 745.00 192.11 498.00 82.91 82.45 63.56
Low 745.00 189.00 481.50 79.10 79.84 60.80
Close 745.00 192.11 495.00 82.91 81.96 63.56
Change Turnover 26.80 50 9.14 14,246 5.19 18,502 3.94 125,536 3.43 18,693 3.02 184,627
Major Losers
KARACHI
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STAFF REPORT
He day saw the benchmark 100-share index decreasing by 19.83 points to 13,273.91 points against 13,293.33 points of Wednesday. abdul azeem, an analyst at InvestCap, said that the KSe 100 index was able to climb and sustain above the identified pivot level of 13,270pts, which was as per expectations but closed little negative. Total numbers of Shares of 370 companies were traded on Thurs-
day, and at the end of the day total 144 stocks closed higher, total 140 are declined while 86 remained flat. The overall value of shares traded during the day was rs2.259 billion. azeem added that the market again attracted liquidation interest at the high levels. The trading volumes at the ready-counter were recorded lower at 225,976 million shares against 266.068 million shares of the previous day. The trading value decreasing to rs 3, 663 billion compared to rs 4.593 billion of the previous session. The intraday high and low, respectively,
stood at 13,325.30 and 13, 206.72 points. Market capitalization declined to 3.402 trillion from 3.410 trillion. The market below 13,273 indicates further selling pressure towards 13,200pts levels. On the flip side market again needs to climb above 13,270pts level to attract buying interest again, viewed azeem. KSe all share-index ended the day at 9,297.40 points, down 7.91 points or 0.09 percent, KSe 30index stopped the day at 11,581.91 points, decreasing 48.58 points or 0.42 percent while the KMI 30index slumped by 36.13 points or
Looking for an affordable house? KARACHI
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STAFF REPORT
He House Building Finance Company limited – HBFCl with its vision to be the prime housing finance institution of the country participated in the “Pakistan’s Housing Construction Conference” held today at a local hotel in Karachi. The objective of the conference was to address the ever growing housing shortage in the country and to discuss issues faced by the construction industry. Speaking at the conference the Chief executive Officer of HBFCl, azhar a. jaffri said, “real estate, housing and construction in-
dustry plays a vital role in development of the economy of a country and can provide employment opportunity to millions. I earnestly hope that the participants of this conference will pledge to cooperate to provide affordable housing to citizens of Pakistan.” discussing the growing housing shortage in the country the CeO further added, “There are 60-70 other industries linked with housing sector. By addressing the challenges facing the housing and construction industry can give a boost to more than 60 allied industries linked with housing.” a comprehensive transformation is currently underway at HBFCl with the aim to bring new reforms in almost every section of the organization. exceptional
0.16 percent to end the day at 22, 664.63. jahangir Siddiqui Company was volume leader of the day, 23.485 million shares and gained rs 1 to close at rs 19.58, followed by azgard Nine, Bank of Punjab and jahangir Siddiqui Bank limited with turnover of 22.225 million, 21.942 million and 12.316 million shares respectively. The Wyeth Pakistan limited Xd and Service Ind Xd, up rs 26.80 and rs 9.14, led highest price gainers while, Indus dyeing and Fazal Textile, down rs 13.63 and rs 12.00 respectively, led the losers.-
progress has been made in implementing the transformation strategy and substantial progress is evident. The conference was organized by ‘Investment & Marketing’ a 45 year old company that has a record of organizing conferences on vital sectors of Pakistan’s economy including agriculture, aviation, banking, shipping, pharmaceuticals, etc. Some of the prominent speakers at the conference were Senator Syed Mustafa Kamal (former City Nazim), arif Habib, Chairman Saiban Tasneem Siddiqui, S.M. Muneer, Shahid Feroz and and dr Kaiser Bengali. The House Building Finance Company limited (‘HBFCl”) is an unlisted Public limited Company. Its Vision is “to be the prime housing finance institution of the country, providing affordable housing solutions to low and middle income groups of population by encouraging new constructions in small & medium housing (SMH) sector.”
Indus Dyeing Fazal Textile Nestle PakXD Shezan Inter. National Refinery
407.05 250.00 4408.50 130.00 251.09
427.30 238.00 4465.00 125.00 252.00
386.71 238.00 4301.00 125.00 246.50
393.42 238.00 4403.09 125.00 246.94
19.58 .88 9.56 7.20 12.09
18.62 6.85 8.65 6.57 11.28
19.58 7.87 9.47 6.81 11.98
-13.63 80 -12.00 141 -5.41 1,021 -5.00 450 -4.15 32,944
Volume Leaders Jah.Sidd. Co. Azgard Nine B.O.Punjab JS Bank Ltd Engro Polymer
18.58 6.88 7 8.56 6.94 11.13
1.00 23,485,809 0.99 22,225,578 0.91 21,942,205 -0.13 12,316,591 0.85 11,164,131
Interbank Rates US Dollar UK Pound Japanese Yen Euro
90.8043 143.4435 1.0965 119.4530
Dollar East US Dollar Euro Great Britain Pound Japanese Yen Canadian Dollar Hong Kong Dollar UAE Dirham Saudi Riyal Australian Dollar
Buy
Sell
90.80 118.61 142.49 1.0841 90.24 11.52 24.60 24.08 93.15
91.30 119.95 144.09 1.0960 91.75 11.72 24.85 24.34 95.65
CORPORATE CORNER PTCL celebrates sports week with sweet Home children
ister for agriculture, senior officials of different government departments dealing with agriculture and over 2000 haris/farmers. PRESS RELEASE
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Company limited (PTCl) has extended enthusiastic support to the fun-filled Sports Week for children of Sweet Homes. a project of Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal (PBM), the nationwide established Sweet Homes provide quality housing and education to nearly 3000 orphaned children across Pakistan. Currently being held at the jinnah Sports Complex, Islamabad from March 19-25, the sports week is being actively participated in by children who have been provided an exciting opportunity for fun, games and sports gear through partnership between PBM and PTCl. PRESS RELEASE
Lg’s new Home Theater systems
netsol awarded with Excellence in software Export Award LAHORE: NetSol Technologies ltd is awarded with Teradata excellence in Software export award. Chairman NetSol Technologies ltd. Salim Ghauri collected the award at an impressive ceremony in Karachi organized by Teradata. The independent auditors KPMG Taseer Hadi & Co compiled the score cards received from judges and declared NetSol Technologies as the recipient of Teradata’s 10 th National IT excellence awards in the category of “excellence in Software export”. The management of Teradata conferred this award of excellence on Salim Ghauri in its mega event in Karachi. It may be noted that NetSol Technologies NetSol Technologies had export revenues of rs. 1.908 billion in 2010, registering increase in export revenues to rs. 1.99 billion with export growth rate of 4.28 % YoY. PRESS RELEASE
nA speaker to open ‘Fourth Hari Melo’ at Badin KARACHI: dr. Fehmida Mirza, Speaker National assembly, will inaugurate the ‘Fourth Hari Melo’ on March 25 at laar Museum Ground, Badin. The mela, which is being organized by the State Bank of Pakistan Banking Services Corporation (SBP BSC), Hyderabad in collaboration with all commercial banks, will be attended by Syed ali Nawaz Shah, Sindh Min-
only for our customers but for Pakistan at large.” “Being the first bank in Pakistan to launch Visa debit eMV chip card in the market is a great achievement for MCB and a milestone for all its Visa cardholders,” said amer Pasha, Country Manager for Visa Pakistan & afghanistan. “eMV chip technology presents further security, reliability and convenience for making purchases throughout the country and while traveling. We congratulate MCB and its technology partner, euronet, for successful implementation and for further enhancing electronic payments in Pakistan.” STAFF REPORT
LsE outreach Programme
LAHORE/SEOUL: lG electronics is introducing four new home theater systems at this year’s Consumer electronics Show (CeS) equipped with lG’s latest 3d sound technology. By combining its 3d Home Theater Systems with the company’s popular CINeMa 3d Smart TVs, lG aims to solidify its position as the leader in 3d home entertainment. The synergy between lG’s CINeMa 3d Smart TV and CINeMa 3d SOUNd HOMe THeaTer products will be apparent in retail outlets, where they will be displayed paired together. Of the four new 3d SOUNd HOMe THeaTer models scheduled for launch during the first half of 2012, the BH9420PW will be the first to be unveiled at CeS 2012. PRESS RELEASE
MCB launches chip based visa debit card KARACHI: MCB Bank, pioneer of electronic banking services in Pakistan, has introduced country’s first chipbased eMV-certified Visa debit Card. Initial response by customers has been very encouraging and complimented by aTM transactions of over PKr 2 billion and POS transactions of over PKr 100 million. With this latest innovative product, MCB intends to redefine customer behavior by building POS usage habit on debit cards. Mr. ali Mubashir Kazmi, Group Head Consumer Banking, MCB Bank, said, “We chose Visa as our strategic partner because they have an unmatched suite of payment products that allow our customers to pay securely and conveniently for every type of purchase. We are keen on building long term alliances with reputable partners, resulting in synergies and value addition not
LAHORE: lahore Stock exchange held its Campus Outreach Program for the students of MBa here at the University of Veterinary and animal Sciences where lSe’s officials interacted with the students. “Campus Outreach Program” under the broader Financial literacy Initiative has been launched by the lSe in collaboration with South asian Federation of exchange (SaFe). The overall objective of the FlI - Campus Outreach Program is to prepare today’s youth for better understanding of the economic/financial affairs affecting them. The lSe under this initiative will be conducting on-campus educational sessions, followed by practical exposure of students to the financial products/services through visits/interactions with financial institutions and encouraging participation in the financial system through games and internship program. STAFF REPORT
Putting the consumer first KARACHI: “The consumer has the right to refuse a substandard product in Pakistan.” This was stated by Speaker Provincial assembly Sindh, Nisar Khuhro, at the 6th National Conference on “Putting the Consumer First”, here at a local hotel on Thursday, to commemorate World Consumers rights day. Khuhro, who was the Chief guest of the occasion, agreed, amidst a loud applause, to adapt The consumer Protection Ordinance, which the province of Sindh still doesn’t not have, as soon as possible. “There is no doubt that we need the ordinance and I am here to assure you that I will take it seriously now”, he assured the organizer and the audience. PRESS RELEASE
kBP celebrates ‘World Water day’
Engro goes global
LAHORE: Speakers at a seminar stressed the need for construction of more dams in the country to meet the national water requirements which according to them are turning in to a serious issue in the country. They alleged that past and present rulers did not pay attention towards this issue. They also claimed that water issue would automatically be resolved if Kashmir issue is resolved. They alleged that India wanted to turn Pakistan barren by constructing dams on all the rivers. The seminar was arranged by the Kisan Board Pakistan (KBP) here on Thursday to celebrate ‘World Water day.’ KBP Vice President Sarfraz ahmad Khan presided over the function, which was attended by a large number of growers, office-bearers of KBP and other farmers’ organization. STAFF REPORT
LAHORE: Pakistan’s fastest growing dairy and food processing company, engro Foods, has entered into the international arena by acquiring al-Safa, the leading halal meat brand of North america. Giving presentation to select group of journalists, engro Foods General Manager Marketing ahsan afzal ahmad pointed out that engro was the first Pakistani consumer goods company that acquired an international halal meat brand within this high potential market, recognised as the world’s fastest growing segment at an estimated global value of $632 billion. He said that leveraging al-Safa’s established global footprint, engro Foods aimed to strengthen its presences in North america and Canadian markets by expanding its product portfolio and drawing upon its local expertise in the food business to emerge as major contender and a key player within the international market. PRESS RELEASE
KARACHI: The Pakistan France Business Alliance hosted Trade Performance Awards ceremony. Group photo shows Patron in Chief His Excellency Philippe Thiebaud French Ambassador to Pakistan, Mr. Jamil Hamdani, President PFBA, Miss Sadia Khan President INSEAD, Barrister A.R. Sattar and Mr. Saifuddin Zoomkawala, Chairman EFU and President PGBF, with chief guest. PRESS RELEASE